tikistitch

OK, so, had to abort the run early due to violent stomach cramps (hangover of our lovely Flu Experience) and then waited half an hour in the rain for a Metro bus that still on holiday schedule, and then got into work and our server is still borked.

BUT, whilst we were at our barista's place (there was a line, of course), we espied that the SeaTimes has cocoa recipes!!

Mmmm, xocolātl.

But what about French people, hmmm?

Especially when it's booze.

And chocolate.

Mmmmm.....

So, here is why it sometimes gets complicated to be a collector. Stitch and chocolate--what could be more delightful than our two favoritest things in the whole wide world, combined in a Japanese miniature? We suspected that the box did not really contain chocolate--probably erasers or something--but that was ok. Only to receive the item, and find the teensy boxes contain not candy delights, but intricately folded towels. Which, we need to photograph, but fear if we extract from their nesting, we will never if it takes the entire remainder of our lives get them folded and back into their boxes, necessitating looking for duplicate copies of each and every item.

*sigh*

From fellow chocoholic, spazzygirl19:

The courage of their confections: Two candy makers are asking chocolate lovers to protest plans to allow cheaper ingredients. Vegetable oil, anyone?

Calling all chocoholics. Put down the truffles and power up the PC. It's time to weigh in on a fundamental question: What is chocolate?

Two of California's oldest confectioners, See's Candies Inc. and Guittard Chocolate Co., are battling an attempt to loosen government rules that dictate what ingredients go into the sweet stuff.

Legally, the candy that melts hearts and comforts the brokenhearted is made with cocoa butter and, in the case of milk chocolate, whole milk. But the Grocery Manufacturers of America, a trade group, wants to let confectioners substitute cheaper ingredients — vegetable oils and milk protein concentrates.

The article goes on to point to Guittard's protest web site, Dontmesswithourchocolate.com, where you can actually contact the FDA if you're against the change (and if you think it might actually make any difference).

While we tend to agree that most people won't notice the cheaper veggie oil substituted into their Hershey bars, we also bet there's no way in hell the chocolate companies are gonna pass the savings on to their customers.